9: Night attack

As the night deepened, a blood moon rose quietly.

"They're here!" Great Elder Di Chengyuan suddenly shouted.

Almost at the same moment, dozens of dark shadows lunged toward the Di Clan from all directions. These people wore black cloaks and hideous fanged masks on their faces; just like five years ago, they were the assassins of the Black Fiend Alliance!

"Fire!" Great Elder Di Chengyuan waved the long saber in his hand.

The Di Clan Members, who had been lying in ambush, released their bowstrings in unison, and hundreds of specially-made Gang-Breaking Arrows whistled through the air. The dozen or so Black Fiend Alliance assassins at the front were caught off guard and were instantly shot like hedgehogs, falling from mid-air.

These were merely Spirit Origin Realm assassins; the truly powerful ones were still behind.

More assassins had already broken through the rain of arrows and engaged in close-quarters combat with the Di Clan guards. The battle instantly reached a fever pitch, and amidst the flashes of sabers and swords, blood stained the bluestone ground in front of the Di Clan.

"Great Elder Di Chengyuan, surrender and be captured!"

A cold voice suddenly rang out behind Great Elder Di Chengyuan. Great Elder Di Chengyuan's heart tightened, and without looking back, he slashed behind him.

"Clang!"

Amidst the sound of clashing metal, Great Elder Di Chengyuan retreated three steps, his tiger's mouth splitting open as blood flowed down his wrist. Before him, a black-robed man wearing a silver fanged mask stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes beneath the mask as cold as a venomous snake's.

"Purple Mansion Realm!" Great Elder Di Chengyuan gritted his teeth and spat out these words.

Yin Jiuyou let out a raspy laugh: "Good eyes. Surrender, and I can give you a quick death!"

"In your dreams!" Great Elder Di Chengyuan roared, "Children of the Di Clan, fight to the death and never retreat!"

"Stubborn and foolish." Yin Jiuyou shook his head and slowly raised his right hand, "Then all of you can die."

He flipped his palm, and a palm print as black as ink condensed out of thin air. As soon as the palm print appeared, the temperature within a hundred-zhang radius plummeted, and thick frost formed on the ground—it was exactly Yin Jiuyou's famous technique, the "Xuanming Palm"!

Great Elder Di Chengyuan gritted his teeth and pushed his entire body's True Essence, preparing for a desperate struggle. At this critical moment, a gold-red stream of light descended from the sky like a falling star, accurately striking the palm print.

"Boom!"

Amidst the deafening explosion, the black palm print was forcibly shattered. The violent energy shockwave scattered in all directions, blowing away a dozen Black Fiend Alliance assassins.

"Who is it?" Yin Jiuyou's pupils shrank as he suddenly looked up.

As the dust settled, a slender figure stood proudly, his black-gold robe fluttering even without wind.

"Clan Chief!" Great Elder Di Chengyuan's voice trembled with excitement.

Di Shenglong did not turn back; he simply raised his hand, and a wisp of golden light entered Great Elder Di Chengyuan's body. The Grand Elder immediately felt a warm current spread through his body, and his injuries were instantly mostly healed.

"Di Shenglong?" Yin Jiuyou narrowed his eyes, "How could you appear here?"

Di Shenglong did not answer; gold-red light swirled in his eyes: "Don't bother thinking about it. They are all dead."

"Now it's the turn of that old thing in the shadows."

Before his voice had even faded, he suddenly pointed his right index finger. This finger strike seemed slow but was actually as fast as lightning; gold-red light intertwined at the fingertip, condensing into a pinpoint of light so brilliant it was extreme, shooting toward a spot in the darkness.

The moment the light point left his finger, the Tenth Elder in the shadows—Yin Jiuyou's father, Yin Shan—changed expression drastically. He felt an unprecedented threat of death and hastily sacrificed seven black shields to block in front of him, while simultaneously biting the tip of his tongue and spitting out a mouthful of essence blood.

"Xuanming Body Protection!"

The essence blood transformed into a blood-red light shield that enveloped Yin Jiuyou. Not stopping there, he pulled a bone talisman from his breast and crushed it, summoning a three-zhang-tall Skeletal Puppet to block in front of him.

However—

"Puff, puff, puff..."

The gold-red light point pierced through the Skeletal Puppet and the seven shields without any resistance, finally landing on the blood-red light shield. The shield lasted less than half a breath before shattering with a bang, and the light point's momentum remained unchecked, hitting Yin Shan right between the eyebrows.

"Im... possible..."

"Father—"

Yin Jiuyou's eyes widened, the expression beneath the mask frozen between terror and disbelief.

Killing a Heaven-Reaching Realm with a single finger!

Seeing this, the remaining Black Fiend Alliance assassins had their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering as they turned and fled. Di Shenglong gave a cold snort. After the gold-red light point killed Yin Shan, it suddenly split into dozens of fine threads, accurately hitting every fleeing assassin, including Yin Jiuyou.

Silence.

A deathly silence enveloped the square.

"Clan Chief... you..." Great Elder Di Chengyuan's voice trembled, his old eyes filled with tears.

Di Shenglong restrained his aura: "Grand Elder, count the casualties and strengthen the guard."

As the great battle ended, a blood-red signal suddenly rose from the direction of the North Foot Mine—it was the retreat order of the Black Fiend Alliance.

"The enemies at the mine have retreated," the Fourth Elder, Di Wenjun, reported.

Di Shenglong nodded. It seemed that because he had wiped out the Black Fiend Alliance so quickly, the side at the mine received the signal of failure before they even attacked, thus choosing to retreat.

"Clan Chief, this time our clan sacrificed four members and more than twenty were injured. Fortunately, you returned early, otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Fortunately, he had already broken through to the ninth level of the Heaven-Reaching Realm; otherwise, the Family would not have escaped death.

The next day, the news of the Ma Clan Chief, the Young Clan Chief, and the Black Fiend Alliance's Young Alliance Leader and Elder dying at the hands of Di Shenglong spread like wildfire.

Xuantian City was shaken. One must know that the Elders of the Black Fiend Alliance were all Heaven-Reaching Realm existences; that Di Shenglong could actually kill a Black Fiend Alliance Elder was unbelievable to everyone.

However, there was one thing everyone had to believe: not long ago, Di Shenglong had led the Di Clan disciples to wipe out the Ma Family, taking over many of the Ma Family's industries and spirit mines.

One must know that the Ma Family had three Purple Mansion Realm Cultivators: the Ma Family Old Ancestor, the Ma Clan Chief, and the Young Clan Chief. Although the Di Clan was once the number one Family, it had declined; how could they kill three of the Ma Family's Purple Mansion Realm Cultivators?

But everyone had to believe it. After all, there were survivors at the time, and the news soon reached the City Lord's Manor and the surrounding cities.